Open Arms
by McDreamyGirl
Summary: Season 3. Mark consoling Addison about Derek and the way her marriage turned out as well as Mark's thoughts on the whole situation. MarkAddie of course!


_**Open Arms**_

_**Okay guys, here is another short – this is a song fic (Open Arms by Journey)**_

_**Mark is back in Seattle with the intention of making Addison happy but he doesn't know if it will work or not. These are thoughts that are randomly going through his head and actual conversation between the two. **_

_**I do not own any of the characters of GA, wish I did – I would write for them and make them all fall prey to my whims, lol. **_

_**  
Happy reading and please let me know what you think. **_

_**Lying beside you**_

_**Here in the dark**_

_**Feeling your heart beat with mine**_

_**Softly you whisper**_

_**You're so sincere**_

_**How could our love be so blind**_

Mark looked at Addison for the hundredth time that night and his heart soared. How could he not love the woman that was lying next to him? He had lost everything for her…his reputation, his best friend, his desire to be with other women. He had never felt anything like this for anyone else in his entire life. Yet, she did not – or could not – give herself to him entirely. He wanted all of her, he needed all of her but her heart still remained with Derek.

Addison was sincere when she told him that she was still in love with her husband. That if he had not slept with Meredith she would still be trying to make things work with Derek and would've never called him. However, she did call and her husband did sleep with his lover – well the woman that he now loved. Why was it so hard for Addie to accept that Derek had moved on? Why was she still holding on to a lost cause? Derek had stopped loving her a long time ago and for some reason that only made Addie fight harder.

_**We sailed together**_

_**We drifted apart**_

And here you are by my side 

They had been through so much and undergone an insurmountable amount of pain. When he had begged her to go back with him to New York his heart had been broken into a million pieces when she said no, that she would be staying with her husband. He had told her that Derek did not love her anymore and still she stayed. He had told her that he was in love with her and yet she still stayed with Derek. He had told her that he would never wrong her, that he would cherish her and that what they had done had not been entirely wrong. It was circumstances that made their union so hard but they should not be punished. All he needed to do was tell her over and over again until Addison believed it.

_**So now I come to you**_

_**With open arms**_

_**Nothing to hide**_

_**Believe what I say**_

_**So here I am**_

_**With open arms**_

_**Hoping you'll see**_

_**What your love means to me**_

_**Open arms**_

What did it mean to her that he was here? She was the one that had called and told him that she needed him – if only for one night. It didn't matter that she called him in her desperation. What mattered was that she thought of him. That had to count for something, right? He had told her – promised her – that whenever she came to her senses or whenever she needed a shoulder to cry on he would come back to Seattle on the first plane back. He had wanted to tell her then and there that he would wait an eternity. That no matter how in love she was with Derek he would remain devoted and in love with her and that even if he never felt her body next to his or himself inside of her, he would love her till the day he died. He had sworn to her that he knew they were soul mates and if she couldn't see that or accept that, it was okay. He would wait.

_**Living without you**_

_**Living alone**_

_**This empty house seems so cold**_

_**Wanting to hold you**_

_**Wanting you near**_

_**How much I wanted you home**_

Then he had gotten on the plane and headed back home to New York but her things were still at his place and her scent still lingered in his house, especially their bedroom and their bathroom. She had not even told Derek that she had moved in with him and they had spent several months trying to make their relationship work and in the beginning it did. In the beginning it was wonderful. They didn't have to hide from Derek anymore. They could go to dinner without the fear of being caught by someone and they were able to openly express their feelings for each other. Addison had seemed happy then.

As time passed, however, the glow in her eyes started to fade and the guilt started to consume her. It made them fight constantly and she wanted him to understand where she was coming from but he couldn't. He still didn't. What she finally had told him was that she was still in love with Derek and that she had to try to fix things. He had been taken aback by that statement – he was left out in the cold and didn't know if he would ever be able to be the same man without her.

_**But now that you've come back**_

_**Turned light into day**_

I need you to stay 

His hand automatically went to her hair and he caressed it lovingly. If only she'd come back with him to New York. If only she'd give them another chance he would make her see that the only one for her was him. That Derek was a bump in the road to get to him. That Derek didn't know her like he did. That Derek stopped paying attention to her far before she decided to be unfaithful. That Derek had moved on and had no remorse whatsoever – well maybe a little remorse but after seeing her with him again, he was done with the guilt of falling in love with Meredith and he would fight tooth and nail for Meredith and that would leave Addison out in the cold – much like he was with her.

_**So now I come to you**_

_**With open arms**_

_**Nothing to hide**_

_**Believe what I say**_

_**So here I am**_

_**With open arms**_

_**Hoping you'll see**_

_**What your love means to me**_

Open arms 

He didn't know how he was going to convince her that she needed to let this thing with Derek go and she needed to let him in her heart. "Addie." He said, lovingly as he inched closer to her. "Addie…wake up."

"Mhmmm…" she said as she started stirring. "What time is it?" she asked as she opened her eyes and looked at Mark. He was here. All she had to do was pick up the phone and hours later he was there by her side comforting her like always. Why did he do it? Why did he put up with her? If Mark had done to Addison what she did to him, she probably would have hung up on him or not answered at all. She would have sent him to hell – where they both deserved to be.

"Why?" she questioned as she found the courage to speak. "Why did you come? After everything that I have put you through?"

"You asked me to." Mark stated. It really was that simple for him. Addie needed him and he was going to be true to form and show her that he kept his promises and that – to him – she was his priority.

"That it?" she questioned. "I ask you to and you come."

"Yep…" he admitted. "I want you to see that no matter what Addie I'm here for you. No matter how much you try to push me away I will come back because this is what I want. I want you…for the rest of my life…with me. I want you to know that even if you try to self-destruct I will not let that happen because if you are defeated a part of me is defeated as well."

Addison's eyes filled with tears. Mark loved her more than anyone had ever loved her and she had walked away from that, for what? For Derek to turn around and do the same thing she did to him: cheat. It was a given Derek and her only hurt each other. They might have a couple of months of cordial companionship but it would never go more than that. She realized that now.

"I don't know why I came back to him." She said honestly. "Maybe it was because I knew that he was seeing someone. When Richard called and told me that he found out that he was dating an intern I saw red. All I could think of were how many times we had been in our bed, happy. I wanted him back." She said, as she wiped some tears from her face. "Then when I saw Meredith and saw the opportunity of making him stay with me because of his obligation towards me, I took it. Mark…I took the opportunity of him feeling vulnerable and I punished him, Meredith and myself. Everything that has happened I deserve because I knew that he didn't love me and I stayed."

"You wanted it to work Addison. You did what you thought was right. At least you followed your heart. That's not a bad thing. You should always listen to what your heart says." Mark interjected.

"You know in the beginning when we went to therapy and he decided to let go of Meredith I really thought that we would work things through but then as time passed, I saw him become more and more miserable. Then you came to town, he punched you because of Meredith not because of me and I knew it was because you were flirting with her. He went ballistic. Over her…not me." Addison said, as a sob escaped her. "But no…it didn't end there. I disregarded my gut and your warning and kept at the game. Why not? I was Addison Montgomery-Shepherd – top surgeon. There was no way an intern would beat me. So what did I do? I befriended Meredith and I told myself it was for Derek's sake…then came the dog. Then the damn dog died and then prom hit and this is where we are…oh no…but not before me making a spectacle of myself. I lashed out all my insecurities to Derek in front of everyone, including Meredith. Then was when I knew and confessed to the Chief that my husband was not even sleeping with Meredith but she still had this hold over him and I couldn't compete cause it was not only passion between them but this connection that I couldn't break through."

"Now you're free." Mark added.

Addison nodded her head and smiled. "Yeah. I guess I am." She said, as she stroked his cheek. "I have you though. I know now that I can count on you to be there to lift me up when I'm down, to pick me up when I fall."

"With open arms baby." Mark said, as he hugged her and kissed her once softly, lovingly.


End file.
